/h3lwalker
To say Uraraka Ochako's life sucked would be an understatement.
Firstly, her family was destitute, hardly getting by with construction jobs and narrowly avoiding legal troubles left and right due to sadly necessary budget cuts. Secondly, her life was basically over the moment her four-year-old self walked into that doctor's office, had her feet X-Rayed, and was diagnosed quirkless. Even if she didn't want to be a hero, being quirkless was basically a fate worse than death nowadays.
So many job opportunities just flushed down the drain, all due to genetics. Even the most mundane and downright useless quirks at least gave people something to distinguish themselves from everyone else, but what did she get? Nothing. Given the circumstances of her life, it'd be difficult to blame her for giving up struggling against the hulking mass of sludge that engulfed her body and was slithering its way down her gullet. At least she'd get to die early without the anguish of what her parents would do if she killed herself.
The government was nice enough to provide some basic financial support when villains killed people, but suicide? That was out of the question. As she looked up to the heavens, her vision beginning to blur, she began to pray for a quirk in her next life. But then, her eyes caught sight of something; a green blur dashing out of the crowd of gawking civilians and cowardly heroes. A young boy, around her age too, with an average-looking face, freckles, a bird's nest of green hair, and the most piercing emerald eyes that she just couldn't keep from staring into.
'What's an angel doing here?' She thought to herself, half-guessing her mind was playing tricks on her. No way was some cute boy running up to save her, the worthless, quirkless, failure from birth! But much to her astonishment, a glow of green light erupted from the boy as he charged through the sludge at an ungodly speed, grabbing her as he shot straight through the other side with her in his arms. With a flick of the wrist, the boy sent a blast of green flames, lightning, and laser beams at the villain's exposed center, creating an explosion that splattered the monster all over the walls.
Setting her down, the boy grabbed two empty soda bottles from off the ground and reached out with a glowing hand, the slimy residue of the villain glowing in turn as it floated into the bottles.
The rest of the day felt like a blur. The boy had tried to talk to her after handing over the villain to the cops, but was quickly pulled aside by the heroes to be both praised for having such an amazing quirk and scolded for using his quirk without a license.
Nobody even came to check up on her as she slowly made her way to her lonely apartment.
That boy… I wish I could've thanked him… oh who am I kidding, he probably wouldn't want anything to do with me when he realizes how pathetic I am… it's probably for the best that I just stay out of his way… As Uraraka let herself be consumed by those thoughts, tears started to roll down her cheeks. She couldn't even call her parents to tell them she was ok, assuming they could still afford the TV to see the news.
The phone plan had long since expired and no matter what she tried, she couldn't scavenge the funds to keep it up. As she reached closer to her apartment building, a finger tapped her shoulder. Spinning around, she saw the angel that had saved her, practically glowing with divine radiance as his sweet smile plastered his face. "Heya, miss," he said with a small wave, "I never got to check on you back there and just wanted to make sure you were ok."
She stared at him, mouth agape. There was just so much wrong with her life that she had long come to terms with the fact that things could never be "ok." Seventeen-year-old quirkless kids just never got that privilege, and yet here was her savior, checking to make sure she was alright. Fresh tears fell from her face as she let herself fall into the arms of the now startled boy, hugging him tightly as she yelled her anguish into his chest.
A reassuring hand reached to rub the back of her head as she wept. "How the fuck can I be ok when I don't have a fucking quirk! I couldn't even try to fight back against that thing! Why did I have to be born so useless and pathetic and weak and worthless and and and-" Her rambling was quickly cut off by the boy shushing her, hugging her closer as his own tears fell on her head. "I know how you feel. Once upon a time, I was quirkless too."
Ochako perked up at this, looking the taller boy in the eyes in bewilderment. How could such a cute boy know the same anguish that came with being quirkless?
Ochako felt moisture claim her eyes again. She hated to think about what the rest of the quirkless had to deal with, and she at least considered herself lucky that her teachers had the courtesy of actively trying to stop the bullying. "But, when I was sixteen, I discovered that I did have a quirk, A quirk that lets me give and take the quirks of others. I accidentally took the quirk of that bully, but quickly gave it back before he noticed. Since then, I've been going to nursing homes and asking people if they'd like to donate their quirks."
To prove his point, he let flames dance in one hand, electricity arc through another, crystals grow on his cheek, and made various pebbles levitate up off the ground. Her eyes widened with awe, staring deep into the emerald hues. A quirk like that wasn't just powerful, it was downright godly!
She was in the presence of a fucking god amongst mortal scum! A part of her contemplated whether or not she should get on her hands and knees and start praying to him before he continued. "If you want, I can give you a quirk. I already have so many and honestly, it's hard keeping track of them. There're just so many good ones that just slip my mind sometimes, so it's probably better for me to give you a quirk and know it's being used rather than just keep 'em all locked up and forgotten."
This was it. Her prayer had been answered. Ochako had died, and now she was being reincarnated with a quirk.
Without even a moment's hesitation, the word "yes" escaped her lips.
She didn't even give a second thought as to what the price could possibly be. She could be selling her soul and she still wouldn't turn down the deal. "Excellent!" The boy shot her a smile that she could've sworn was made up of concentrated purity, like the souls of billions of kittens and puppies were infused into his face. As the pulled out a notebook, the power of his smile only grew. "This book has a list of all the quirks I keep forgetting. Take as much time as you want, there's no rush. Oh, by the way, I don't think I ever got your name!"
She smiled, taking the notebook from his hands and slowly opening it. "Ochako… Uraraka Ochako." The boy's permanent smile grew even brighter as she began to flip through the notebook, taking in the extremely detailed explanations of each quirk.
"Well, I'm Izuku Midoriya! Nice to meet you!" The two spent the next hour flipping through the pages until Ochako found the one. She had always admired The Space Hero: Thirteen, so picking the anti-gravity quirk felt like a natural choice; like she was always meant to have it.
As she walked into her barren apartment with a skip in her step, one little thing Izuku said whilst she browsed through the options rung through her mind. "If you push a quirk hard enough, sometimes it can mutate into something stronger. I've only managed to do it twice so far, but that's mainly due to me having to use so many quirks it's hard for me to focus on just one.
Honestly, all of these have the potential to get really powerful, but unfortunately, I just don't use them enough to get to experience their true strength." As those words echoed through her head, she decided to make a vow: to make this quirk the best damn quirk to ever exist; second only to Izuku's godhood.
She would make sure he'd never regret this decision. It was an hour later that she realized he never even asked her for any kind of payment.
--
To say All Might was having an internal crisis would be an understatement. This boy, who had not long ago asked him if the quirkless could be heroes, apparently wasn't asking that for himself. On one hand, the boy had shown a heart of gold, eagerly giving away a quirk without even hinting at payment.
On the other hand, the boy had the same quirk as him. It helped calm his nerves that this boy, Izuku Midoriya, looked absolutely nothing like All for One. The monster's hair was a pure white and devoid of even the mildest of curls; his face was far more chiseled and far more reminiscent of a certain fiery number 2, and not a single freckle could be spotted anywhere on his body. But that didn't mean that Izuku simply took after his mother more, or maybe he had met All for One and inherited the bastard's power. Whatever was going on, All Might needed to get to the bottom of it and fast.
Trailing the boy home, he made a quick call to detective Tsukauchi to prepare a small squad. Nothing drastic, at least not yet. If this boy wasn't involved with All for One, then he didn't want to accidentally push what could be the greatest opportunity to ever present itself into the hands of that monster. All Might would never admit it to Torino and Nighteye, but he did have a bit of admiration for what All for One's quirk was capable of.
Maybe it was just growing up quirkless himself that brought the fascination, but he would often wonder how the world would change if All for One wasn't evil. Simply being able to take away power from those who don't deserve it was already amazing in and of itself, but being able to use those same powers for good would turn its user into a symbol of peace of the same caliber as All Might himself.
Nevertheless, All for One was a tricky bastard and he needed to be careful. It's such a shame, on the surface, this boy was the perfect candidate for One for All. I really hope he's innocent… the kid seems like the very definition of a hero, running in to save people with no concern for reward or consequence. Why can't more people like that exist in this cruel world we live in today?
To say Izuku's life was a rollercoaster was an understatement. For the majority of his life, he thought he was quirkless. Now, looking back at it, he should've seen the signs. He was always interested in quirks, almost obsessive in a way, and frequently he'd find himself filled with the desire to just take the quirks of those who torment him.
Of course, he never did. Never thought he could, and even if he did, he'd never think he should. Quirks nowadays were people's methods of standing out, of being unique. To take that away from someone, especially for something as petty and pathetic as bullying? That was unheroic. Izuku lucked out when he accidentally stole Kacchan's quirk. The blonde fool never even noticed it was gone, and Izuku returned it long before the bully felt the need to use it again. It was honestly a relief to Izuku that this was how he discovered his quirk.
If he had stolen Kacchan's quirk when they were kids, he most certainly would've been vilified by the ball of hatred and rage that was Katsuki Bakugou. Honestly, the most difficult part of evolving from the quirkless loser to the guy who could steal quirks just by reaching out to your general direction wasn't the mountains of paperwork getting it registered, finding an ethical way to acquire quirks, or breaking the news to his mom.
It was breaking the news to his former childhood friend.
Izuku had hoped that Kacchan would've at least dropped the nickname "Deku" since he technically wasn't worthless. Izuku could deal with being called a villain and having a villainous quirk, but being treated as worthless when he wasn't anymore just made him mad.
Instead, the bullying targeted his reliance on the powers of other people. A part of him wished he had never told him anything, but deep down Izuku knew that the ash blonde would be a far bigger nuisance down the line when the truth was revealed. In fact, that was the general attitude he had regarding his quirk.
Sure, heroes would be afraid of interning a student with a villainous quirk, but an evil quirk was still better than nothing.
It was better to just be honest regarding his power than to constantly worry about whether or not he'd be thrown into Tartarus. While, yes, using Transfer with people's permission was still breaking the law, and saving the girl from the sludge villain might've put him on some kinda watchlist, he hadn't done anything wrong, so he wasn't too worried. As Izuku walked home, blissfully unaware of the number one hero stalking his every move, he couldn't help but wonder how far that girl would take the quirk he gave her.
In the brief times, he'd donated a quirk to someone without one, he'd always notice how they naturally go balls to the walls with them within the span of a few months. One time he had given some kid one of his strength quirks, one he thought only capable of crushing cinder blocks, and a month later he checked back to see the kid was capable of demolishing trucks with a single punch! Since that day he's been far more careful with both to who he gave quirks and made sure to make notes and theories on what each and every quirk was actually capable of. Izuku was honestly kinda giddy when he saw Uraraka again.
To him, there's nothing more satisfying than seeing a quirk's true potential fully explored. It was honestly the only reason he hadn't sabotaged Kacchan's chances at getting into UA. He had enough evidence to get him locked up for at least a few months, but the living bomb had the potential for a damn good hero.
Plus he's pretty sure that locking him up would only send Kacchan down a dark path, and at least at UA, he'd be surrounded by people that could actually measure up and put his pride in check… Hopefully... Shaking his head from those thoughts, Izuku walked through the front door of his home, immediately getting tackled by his mother.
"Oh, sweetie! I saw you on the news! Why did you have to run in like that?! And why didn't you call me? Oh, and your clothes are such a mess, you reak! You go take a shower right now and when you come out you better have a good excuse!" And just like that, Izuku found himself in the shower, forehead pressed up against the wall and hot water running down his back as he thought of the best way to defuse his mother's worries as fast as possible.
A part of him wanted to use a quirk he recently got that temporarily pacifies people, but it only works with skin contact, and the moment he'd let go she'd start to worry again. Not to mention how wrong it'd feel if he tried to manipulate his own mother like that. It'd probably be better to just bite the bullet and let her chew him out for his recklessness.
If those were the only consequences of his actions today, then he'd gladly take them.
--
All for One was watching the TV with bated breath. What was a simple flipping through channels to stave off boredom quickly turned into heightened interest and distress.
This boy… Izuku Midoriya… He had more than one quirk, and that was without a doubt. His quirk vision usually never flared up when watching TV, and yet this child lit up like a star when he ran in to save that girl.
The scourge of the underworld quickly thought back to everyone he had ever given a quirk to. He had been extensively careful with keeping track of everyone he ever "helped," loose ends and all that, and in none of his records was there ever even the slightest hint of someone named Midoriya. The cryptid reached for his tablet and began to sift through his files, combing every single file he had. This boy better not have the same type of quirk as All for One.
With luck, he just has a really powerful copy quirk, but I can't afford a rival rising up right now… not when I'm still bound to this pathetic machine! Damn you, All Might, you lucky successor of a bitch. If this boy is the death of me, I will personally drag you into hell with me! Reaching for a pager, All for One brought up Kurogiri and Shigarachi. "Ah, Sensei!" spoke the childish pawn, who immediately paused the game he was wasting his time on.
"I wasn't expecting you today, but the surprise is most welcome!" All for One raised his hand as a subtle request for silence. "Shigarachi, I need you and Kurogiri to evaluate a boy by the name of Izuku Midoriya. I suspect he has a similar quirk as mine, but I'm not sure. If he does have the same type of quirk as mine, then I need you to eliminate him by any means necessary. Understand?"
"Yes, Sensei." Shigarachi said with a bow.
All for One turned off his broadcast and laid back in his medical equipment. With luck, the heroes would get paranoid and lock the boy up somewhere, but he couldn't afford to rely on luck. It didn't matter if that boy was a hero or a villain, he was a threat first and foremost, and threats need to be eliminated.